Until You're Mine
by OdysseyAvis
Summary: Bella is enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle. Alice convinces her to go on a date with a pro football player who, at the start of everything, seems to be an utterly annoying idiot. But with him he brings some unlikely crossroads that will help Bella find what she's never been searching for but always needed. Bella/Edward with Alice/Jasper AH AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**** So, um, first Twilight fic. Yay! Hope you guys enjoy the first chapter because I really enjoyed starting this up. Oh, and a fair warning to you Jacob lovers, he's just a bit of an ass in this story. I hope you can still read though. **

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The bar was surprisingly classy for a bar. This was a bar where men already knew what their type of scotch was and how to hold their alcohol. This was a bar where drunkards weren't accepted and where the ladies had a fine selection of wine to choose from, if they didn't want a taste of the heavier things in life. This was a bar that didn't hold a hint of a cheesy flashing sign or the nose crinkling smell of cheap spilled beer. This was a bar where paparazzi waited outside for stars of all kinds to wander in. This was a bar that had presented itself as being above her expectations.

What she had expected was to meet up at an overfilled, presumptuous, college bar with whores on the dance floor and druggies in the corners. Those were the only one's she'd been taken to since she started at the University of Washington three years ago. Alice had assured her otherwise, but the fear had still niggled at her in the back of her mind.

Bella's eyes searched the room hungrily. She wondered if it could be the man sitting in the booth secluded in the corner. His face was shielded by darkness, his legs tucked carefully under the table, almost as if he didn't want to be seen. No, Alice had said that he was confident. Well, she had used somewhat different words, but that was the gist of it. Someone confident wouldn't sit somewhere to hide themselves.

Maybe it was the man chucking darts somewhat drunkenly at the board. His tie was already sitting askew on his chest and all the buttons undone on his jacket. No, that man was too obvious. And, even if it was him, she didn't want the obvious, over exuberant man. She'd already had enough of that for a lifetime or two.

She pondered over the man nervously fingering the edge of a glass of amber liquid. His eyes darted back and forth across the women in the bar, passing right over her. The glass shook as he brought it quickly to his lips, splashing on him. She felt a flash of sympathy, but concluded that he wasn't who she was searching for. He would've recognized her, since Alice had supposedly told him all about her.

Bella perused the rest of the men in the bar, though no more were left without a woman hanging from their arm. Her stomach was beginning to churn, but she convinced herself to sit down at one of the swiveling bar stools lined up along the long strip of bar. Ten more minutes and she could leave. Okay, maybe just five. It was his fault, since he was the one who was late. The bartender sauntered over to her, leaning casually against the side opposite her. She was too nervous to do anything but stare down at her lap and play with the edge of her very short dress that Alice had forced her into.

After a few moments of silence from the lost looking woman in front of him, the bartender cleared his throat. She didn't look up. "Scotch on the rocks please." Was all she said. He nodded, though she couldn't see him. She remembered before he walked out of hearing range. "And would you mind, erm, maybe watering down a little?" Bella had never been one to stomach strong drinks, but wines and beer just weren't her thing. She heard him chuckle, deep and throaty, before he walked away to grab he watered down scotch.

She was panicking more now. What if he didn't show up? She would be humiliated. Bella couldn't help but feel the threatening stares of the other women in the bar burning into her back. She could feel their eyes assessing her. She was new to their territory, a threat, not that could ever think of herself being viewed that way. She never saw the way that men's eyes wandered up her petite curves and small waist, and could never suspect the way that they craved to tug on and run their fingers through her thick, shiny brown locks, or imagine that they saw images depicted in their minds of taking her skinny little legs and wrapping them around their hips as they pounded into her. No, she could never even guess at the way that some men craved for the feel of her flesh pressed against theirs.

Men wanted innocence. And Bella seemed to be as innocent as they came.

"Here's your drink." The bartender said, his voice sexy and velveteen. It made butterflies flutter in her gut. She still didn't look up. He laid a square wood coaster down before setting her drink on it, the ice clinking against the cool glass. She picked it up immediately, reveling in the feel of the already formed condensation against the heated skin of her hand. She would've pressed the glass to her forehead had she not been in public.

"Thank you." She said, her voice cracking, before taking a sip. She let a small smile fall upon her face. The drink was just how she liked it; more water than scotch, but she was a lightweight. Even just a few of those could have her stumbling drunkenly around the bar. She glanced down at her wrist, but all she found was a bare patch of skin that was slightly whiter than the rest of her skin. She always wore her watch, but Alice had practically torn her wrist off trying to get the bulky thing off of her.

"You think I'm going to let you keep _that_ on?! It'll ruin your whole outfit!" She had whined. Bella had caved, never being able to resist the childlike lull of Alice's pouting. Plus, Rosalie had backed Alice up. Bella never stood a chance even against tiny Alice, let alone the both of them.

Bella sighed and rubbed at her wrist woefully. She couldn't spot another clock in the bar so she resigned herself to waiting. And waiting. She didn't know how she had gotten herself into this situation, letting Alice set herself up on a blind date. With a pro _football_player of all things. She was somewhat aware of their notorious reputations of being egotistical, but maybe this one was different. After all, Alice's Jasper was a football player for the Seahawks and he was a nice guy.

After what she guessed was a half hour of sitting at that damned bar stool, she was fed up. Her butt was aching, her feet hurt from the tight heels, and her boobs were a bit sore from being squeezed into her push up bra for at least two hours. She stood up, her drink not even half finished, and headed for the door. About a third of the way there, a man walked in. A single man. She continued on, barely registering him. But he registered her. This was the woman Alice had had Jasper tell him about.

His hand landed heavily on her shoulder, not helping her stay sturdily upright. It had taken her hours and hours of practice to learn how to walk in heels without tripping over her feet every two seconds, and she still wasn't comfortable in them. She wobbled for a moment, but managed to regain some of her balance.

"Can I help you?" She asked, flustered, looking up at his looming form. His skin was tanned in a way that suggested ethnic blood and his eyes were a deep shade of brown. She could've said black, but the lighting of the bar let her make out the pinpoint of a pupil in his eyes. His jaw and cheekbones were defined in an almost girlish fashion and his hair was spiked with gel, making it look somewhat greasy. Even under his suit, anyone could tell that he had some hulking muscles and a well built form. Rosalie would call him hot and Angela would call him attractive, though it would probably take a little while to get that reaction out of her. But Bella... Bella was too annoyed and tired to really care.

"Jacob." He said. The name rung a faint bell in the back of her mind.

"The football player." Her tone made it a question.

"The one and only." He said spreading his arms and letting a cocky grin slide onto his face.

She was about to point out how stupid that was, since she could name at least three other football players off the top of her head (but only three, she wasn't much into football), but she held her tongue, wanting to make a good impression. "You're late." She said simply, trying not to let any snark slide into her tone.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Traffic in Seattle is a bitch." He said, cocky smile still on his face. All she did was raise an eyebrow. She usually didn't have this much sass in her, but her annoyance fueled her. He didn't notice, only gestured to the bar. He walked ahead of her, taking a seat. Bella wasn't one for conflict in any form, so she followed his mutely. "A red wine for the lady and tequila on the rocks for me." She rolled her eyes. Both at his drink choice and what he had dubbed her. The bartender had switched to being a woman, though Bella didn't notice the previous one wiping tables down in the background.

There were a few moments of awkward silence. "So, what position do you play?" Bella asked, grubbing around for some sort of conversation. "In football." She added, as though he didn't know what she was talking about. She wanted to smack herself.

"I'm a running back and I sub in for defense every once in a while." He said as if she should've known that already. "Jasper said you weren't much into football. I didn't realize it was to this extent." He joked, then went into some God awful monologue about his adventures on the field. Bella gulped down the wine, wincing at the flavor, but she needed the alcohol. He didn't notice her desperate grab for a distraction. He talked about his touchdowns, his tackles, his sacks, his yards... basically he talked about himself, himself, himself, himself. For an _hour_.

A velveteen voice interjected into their conversation. "Would you like another drink?" Bella looked at him this time. An alien from another planet could've wandered into the bar asking to speak to their leader and she wouldn't have given a flying fuck about it.

The man in front of her, leaning oh-so-casually against the bar, he was... well, he was fucking _gorgeous_. His hair was a sexy copper mess and Bella found her fingers itching to run through it. His jaw was chiseled as a statue's and covered in a light dusting of stubble. She wanted to lean over and rub her cheek against it, wanted to revel in the way it would pull and scratch against her bare skin. Then she found his eyes. Holy shit, his _eyes_. The urge to strip right there, in front of God and everyone, and dive into their golden depths was overwhelming. Blood rushed to her cheeks, and, finding no more room in her face, raced down her neck and into her chest, heating her skin even further.

Jacob found himself presented with the opportunity to stare openly at her flushed chest. Her chest was heaving, making her breasts move lustfully. They were a little small for his taste, but he bet she would be the tightest woman he would get the chance to fuck. She was a small little thing, almost as small as Jasper's girl. He would have to remind himself to thank... whatever her name was if he ever saw her again. He was disgruntled when she stood up and turned slightly away from him, if only because it blocked his view.

"I'll be right back." Bella said breathlessly, offering nothing more as an explanation. She heard the barthender's now familiar throaty chuckle chase her as she left. She could feel both men's eyes heating her back, entirely different from the previous stares of the jealous women throughout the bar. She hurried to the bathroom, trying to inhale as much oxygen as possible. The door was labeled powder room, whatever that meant. The sign was pink, so she pushed her way through, hoping that she wouldn't discover any male appendages in the room.

Thankfully she didn't. What she did discover were mirrors. A whole flock of them, lined up primly against the wall. She surveyed herself in the nearest one, blushing even more once she realized how much she was blushing already. Her mother would've called it adorable. Bella thought it was horrifying. She blamed her blushing gene on her father, who would turn as red as a ripe tomato when he talked about anything that remotely involved emotions. She turned to grab a wad of paper towels and fanned herself with them; it didn't make her feel any cooler.

She whimpered. She would just have to face him. He was probably used to this reaction all the time. Why would she be any different? And it probably wouldn't take much effort to get that lump of a football player out of the bar. He was probably imagining how to get in her pants right now. She threw the paper towels down one of those weird chute things in the counter, smoothed her ruffled dress, and started walking back towards the bar.

The bartender's eyes flashed to her as soon as she exited. She was so interesting. There was something about her that he couldn't place. He had pegged himself as a people person; he had developed a knack for reading people in his dealings at the bar. He learned how to after a while, since reading people and knowing their moods could be the difference between having a friendly conversation and getting his teeth knocked out.

But this one... she was a mystery. He would've recognized Jacob Black anywhere. He was the Seahawk's starting Running Back and a sub Defensive Tackle. Most fans would worship the ground he walked on. Black had already broken Adrian Peterson's record for rushing yards in his rookie year, the number of sacks made by a rookie player, and carried the team to victory numerous times in his short two years of playing. He'd met girls who would've killed to be in that woman's place.

He'd only put a few drops of Scotch in her drink, which would've pissed most people off if they were expecting to ingest some amount of alcohol. But she had just smiled happily down at her water. She also didn't seem to notice the lustful stares the men from all round the room were shooting her. Most, if not all, women would've preened under the gazes, but she was so aloof that it didn't seem to matter.

Bella walked nervously back to the bar, keeping her eyes trained on Jacob. "Would you like to get out of here?" She asked, her voice shaking. Jacob was either too caught up in himself or the idea of having her in his bed to notice.

"Yeah. I have the car waiting outside." He grabbed her hand and yanked her roughly to the door. She stumbled but managed to stay upright, since the other option was being dragged across the floor. She thanked Alice mentally for dropping her off, since she had no idea what she would've done with her car. Bella heard cameras clicking and she shielded her eyes from the brightly winking lights of the cameras. Jacob just smiled dutifully at the paparazzi outside of the bar as his car was brought from around back. She was shoved unceremoniously into the tiny little thing of a sports car. She barely had any foot room, so she didn't know what that monstrosity of a man was going to do with his.

When he climbed into his seat, he seemed cool, calm, and collected. Bella didn't note the glinting spark of excitement in his eyes, or the way that his mind was already reeling with the idea of his cock in her tiny body. The car growled beneath them as he revved the engine.

They rode in silence, Bella's happiness plummeting to surprisingly low levels. Smaller cars had always made her grow nauseous, and this was the smallest freaking one she'd ever been in. As she finally noticed the street signs, she grew confused. "This isn't the way to my house." Bella resided in a medium-sized house just off of the UW campus that she shared with Rosalie, Alice, and Angela. None of them had wanted to join sororities or live in a crappy dorm room, so they had all shacked up. It worked well for them.

"We're going to my place." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Um, I would rather go home. I'm tired and a little bit tipsy." She said, though she was neither. Jacob clenched his fists tighter against the steering wheel. He wasn't used to girls being stubborn. As she rattled off the address, he decided that maybe this was the best thing. She probably just didn't want to portray herself as easy or something. Not that he would care. She would be begging to have him inside her soon enough. Just a couple more dates.

He turned the car around. Jacob knew these streets like the back of his hand, since he'd grown up living in them. It wasn't until he'd been recruited straight out of high school that he'd had any sort of money. But it had gone to his head quickly as he abandoned his previous friends for his teammates and signed a multimillion dollar contract for the Seahawks, which was big for a rookie.

They pulled up to her house and he was amused at the smallness of it, since he knew four girls were sharing it. He stepped out to open her door, but she was out before he could even suggest it. They walked to her front door.

"Well, Jacob it was nice meeting you, but-" He didn't really give a damn as to what she was saying. His lips slammed roughly against hers before she could finish. His hands groped hungrily against her flesh, squeezing uncomfortably. She was surprised and disgusted at the feel of his moist lips against her, as well as the feel of his too warm hands against her breasts through the thin dress. Her hands came up against his chest and she tried to push him away, but she didn't have the strength to accomplish even that. His large frame trapped her against the door. All she could manage was turning her head, but all he did in return was run his lips down her neck.

"Jacob, I think we're going to call it a night." She said, struggling against him again. He would have to cooperate if she was going to get away. He pulled away, his eyes full of heat. He saw how this was going to go. She was going to play hard to get, but that was okay with him. He liked the chase and it was refreshing to have to prove himself instead of just having the woman throw himself at him. He ran his hand up her bare arms one last time and she shivered in a mixture of anger, disgust, and fear. All he saw was her shivering with desire.

"I'll call you." He said before turning around and taking himself back to his sports car. She opened the door and tumbled into the house, stalking to her bedroom.

Alice bounded out of her room at the sound of the opening door. "So, how was it?!" She asked excitedly.

"He was a pompous prick of an asshat, who could talk about himself to the end of his days." Bella exhumed angrily, going into the bathroom to scrub at her mouth with a washcloth. She still had the God awful taste of his tongue stuck on her taste buds. "He practically attacked me when we got out of the car. And he thought we were going to go back to his place already. Let's just say I wouldn't be too sad if he got severely injured within the next few days."

"Are you okay?" Alice asked seriously and Bella knew that she was feeling guilty for how the date turned out. Alice just wanted Bella to be as happy as she was. "We can call the cops. I'm sorry Bells." She said, encircling her arms around Bella's waist.

"I'm okay Alice, just go back to Jasper." Alice's cheeks warmed when Bella pointed out that she knew about the man currently residing in Alice's bed. Alice tripped back to her boyfriend and bounded into bed, thoroughly waking him up.

"Please tell me their date went well so Black will stop pestering me about women. And stop looking at you like you're a meal." He groaned sleepily into the pillow. Alice kissed his back once, twice, three times, then spread herself over him. The top of her head to the bottom of her feet barely spanned from his neck to just past his butt. "Great." He said sarcastically, then flipped quickly onto his back to wrap Alice in his arms.

"Bella doesn't take kindly to assholes."She chirped making him chuckle. "And she is never going out with him again. She deserves better."

"What did he do?" He moved to sit up, worried now, but Alice pushed him back down on the bed, covering his face with kisses.

"Bella said she was okay. I'll check on her in the morning to make sure." She buried her face in his chest, enjoying the warmth she found there. "I didn't think Jacob would be such an asshole."

"I can always tackle him a little too hard on field. Blow out his knee." He growled threateningly before he transformed back into a sleeping rock.

Meanwhile, Bella was collapsed against her closed door. She had scrubbed her mouth clean with a toothbrush and even considered rinsing it with soap. She let the back of her head hit the back of the door softly, letting a sigh rush from her lips. This had not been one of her favorite evenings. Being alone at a bar for so long, having to listen to that idiot ramble on for what seemed like days, feeling his lips against hers... and he was, apparently, still going to call her. The only good part of the evening, if you could even call it that, was seeing... _him_. Her eyes widened and her pulse increased just thinking about his lips, his eyes, his hair, his jaw. He was the most breathtaking man she had ever had the chance to lay eyes on.

Alcohol still running through her system and thoughts of the bartender prancing through her head, Bella crawled into bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

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_Please review. :)_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**** Hey guys! I'm glad to be back and tell you that I have a posting schedule! I'll be posting at least every Thursday until school starts up again. I'll have to change it then, but for now at least we have set days. And I got some reviews am PMs that made me check up on a few things about Alice and I tweaked that last end of the last chapter a bit, so for any of you that read it before I did that, I would suggest going and rereading it now. Enjoy the second chapter of Until You're Mine!**

**Disclaimer: Twilight isn't mine? Damn.**

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Bella sighed woefully, almost at the end of her rope. When her phone finally stopped its blasted chirping, she glanced at her alarm clock. It was only eleven o'clock on a Sunday and Jacob had already called three times. Yesterday, the day after their God _awful_ date, he'd called four times. After chewing Alice out for giving him her number (though feeling guilty afterwards), she'd mustered up enough courage to call him back.

Of course, the bastard hadn't picked up. So much for trying to be a good person.

Now she was just avoiding his calls because… well, it was for many reasons. But the biggest one was that she just really, _really_ didn't want to have anything more to do with his egotistical, self absorbed, annoying self.

She was just really done with men for awhile, actually.

Unfortunately, Alice wasn't okay with that.

Bella had been sitting, _completely relaxed_, munching on her oatmeal at eight o'clock. At first, she didn't look up at the quiet scrape of the chair across from her. She already knew who it was, since that someone had pestered her to talk to her dad about her so-called date last night. But after five minutes of the somewhat unnerving sound of only her chomping on her breakfast, she had given in.

"I'm not going out with him again." Bella had grumbled, disappointed in herself for talking first. She was always the one to give in with Alice and it made her angry. But she still loved the little midget.

"Bella, I would never make you go out with him again! Would you just listen to me for a second?" Alice pleaded for what must've been the millionth time. "Can I try to find you someone else? Maybe a baseball player this time? It'll come with a full background check."

"You've talked about this way too much within the past 24 hours." Bella sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. She could feel a headache forming behind her eyes and groped for an excuse to leave the kitchen.

"I'm surprised you haven't given in yet." Alice threw in, shrugging her shoulders. She then crossed her arms as a pout grew upon her face. "No one can usually resist me for this long." Bella laughed out loud despite her annoyance.

"Alice, you're incorrigible." She said, then scooped more oatmeal into her mouth.

The door bell rang and Alice leapt excitedly from her chair. "Jazz is here!" She sang, as if the whole house needed to be alerted to his presence. Her head whipped back around to look at Bella, the smile wiped from her face and replaced by a cutting expression."_This isn't over_." She then proceeded to prance from the room at another resounding ring.

Bella quickly retreated to her room, slightly concerned about Alice's mood swings, knowing that the pair downstairs would be sickeningly lovey dovey. She flopped onto her bed gracelessly, managing to stub her toe on the side of bed in the process. She groaned and rubbed her toe, wondering how she had possibly managed to stay upright in heels a couple of nights ago. It certainly wasn't due to any of the, ahem, _help_ that Mr. Black had offered her.

Thinking of her disastrous date only made thoughts of _him_pop into her head.

His copper hair.

His toned arms.

His chiseled jaw.

His velvety voice.

His deep chuckle.

His gorgeous eyes.

His _golden _eyes.

_His eyes._

Bella's heart fluttered erratically. She cursed herself for letting her mind wander this way. For all she knew, he could be some psychopathic serial killer who scoped out his next victim by seeing what their favorite drink was. This, of course, was a ridiculous thought, but you never really knew. Eighteen years of living with the Seattle Chief of Police had taught her that.

But honestly, who would bother killing someone who preferred more water than scotch in their drink? A boring person, that's who. She herself would go for someone who enjoyed ingesting dry margaritas.

She hummed, breathing out and dismissing her notions. She glanced at her clock, glared at it when she saw it was almost nine, then slowly gathered a towel and the clothes she was going to wear for the day. Neither the shower nor the clothes were technically a necessity, since all she would be doing was homework and studying for her classes, but staying in pajamas all day annoyed her. Angela thought she was crazy, since she lived in the same pair of pajamas for her weekend of studying.

The poor girl didn't have much of a social life. She would really need to talk to Alice about that. It would also get Alice to focus on something besides her love life.

The heat of the languorous water running down her back was heaven, relaxing her tensed muscles and returning some much needed energy to her. Bella would never truly admit it, to herself or others, but she wasn't the most confident person on the planet, to say the least. Between eating glue in kindergarten and chewing her hair in high school, there had been no time for her to develop. In _any_ way. These last few years of college had been magical, finally transforming her into a physically and emotionally attractive woman. _Too_attractive, if Bella or her father could have any say in it. She was perfectly happy being the one in the background or the designated driver for the night.

As Bella was sudsing up her hair, there was a loud rap across the bathroom door. "Bella, there's someone here for you." Angela's voice sounded sympathetic and scared at the same time.

"Three guesses as to who it is." She grumbled to herself. "I'm a little busy here Angela!" She shouted, hoping that the fact that she was legitimately in the shower would get _whoever_ was here to come back later. Or never.

"Bella, if you don't get your butt out here right now I will have Rosalie come in there and drag you out!" Alice's hiss wasn't quite audible over the pounding of the water, but Bella heard the threat in it. She shut off the shower head hurriedly, toweling herself off and throwing on her clothes. They weren't very attractive. Maybe they would drive him away. This was her best chance.

She burst from the bathroom door and moved past Angela and Alice. A tiny hand wrapped around her wrist, trapping her. "You are _not _going down there like that. C'mere." Bella attempted to protest, but Alice quickly pushed her down on the toilet, gathering a hairdryer, straightener, and makeup from the various drawers about the bathroom.

"Alice, if he doesn't accept me like this, there's no point in dating him." Bella tried to weasel her way off of the toilet lid, but Alice could hold her own and, seeing as Bella only had about two inches on her and little willpower when it came to her demented pixie of a best friend, she was forced to stay.

"He can learn to accept you in all of your uncaring glory later, right now you need to _impress_." She said with a flourish of her hands, black tooth comb and Alice sized hairdryer in hand. Personally, Bella would rather climb into a pit of angry scorpions than attempt to impress anyone in the remote vicinity of Jacob Black, but there was simply no arguing with Alice and her arsenal of persuasive ways. Bella was a little confused too, as she thought that they had established that Jacob was never going anywhere alone with her again.

"Should we really make him wait?" Angela asked meekly.

"Thank you, Angela. At least there's one other person in this house that has some sense."

Alice spoke as if Bella hadn't said anything. "Angela, this will take me ten, fifteen minutes tops. Just _stall_ the man." She commanded. Angela was gone with a turn and a shuffle of her feet, leaving Bella undefended to Alice's whims.

After twenty minutes of poking and prodding, Alice was done. "I guess the clothes are fine, just make sure that you don't slump. You're already short enough." Bella pinched the bridge of her nose between her hands, counted to ten and followed Alice out of the bathroom, slumping her shoulders while she was at it. She clomped down the stairs, making her step sound as unattractive as possible, if that was even a thing.

When she reached the bottom of the staircase, she really wished she hadn't, because there, sitting in the chair she had been occupying about an hour ago, was the guy she had fallen asleep fantasizing about.

"Told ya you'd want to look nice." Alice whispered into Bella's ear as she pranced into the room to embrace Jasper's side. Bella would've glared at her or thrown something only somewhat soft, but she was a little occupied with staring at the fallen angel sitting in front of her. Now that she wasn't looking around frantically for her date or under the influence of alcohol, he only looked more stunning. She was kicking herself mentally for leaving early from the bar while she closed her mouth. Wouldn't want to catch any flies.

"Hello. Isabella, isn't it?" The man with the golden eyes asked. His mouth pulled up in a crooked smile and his stare made her legs turn to jello. She leaned against the wall in what she thought was a casual way. Really, it just made her look exactly how she felt.

_Intoxicated_.

It took Bella a few moments to find her voice. "Um, yes. Yeah." She shook her head and now curled hair. "Sorry, yes it is. Most of my friends call me Bella though."

He chuckled. And it made him more attractive. Bella wanted to whack her head or pinch herself to make sure she wasn't delusional. "Nice to hear that you consider me as a friend." His smile grew to include his whole mouth. She wondered how soft those lips would feel against hers. Or how his slight stubble would rub roughly against her cheek. Or how his long fingers would run through her hair.

Man, she really needed to screw her head on straight.

He reached around to his back pocket, pulling out something that looked very familiar to her. "You left this sitting on my bar Friday night. Seemed as if you were in a hurry to get out of there." He crooked his head, examining her in a way that made her whole body flare with heat. He stood to hand her the wallet, their fingers brushing as it was exchanged. She was hoping that she wasn't the only one who felt her skin tingling as he pulled his arm away.

"Yeah, you can thank a self-absorbed football player for that one." The phrase popped out of her mouth before she could stop it. She heard Alice huff in annoyance, but was distracted by the full belly laughter of her bartender.

"Most of them are." He commented when he stopped laughing.

"I resent that." Jasper said as he crooked an eyebrow.

"Oh, come cousin, I'm only playing with you." He said, clapping Jasper on the back. Jasper just shrugged him off playfully, rolling his eyes.

"You're related?" Bella asked.

"_Unfortunately_." Jasper ground out.

"He's just saying that because I'm the oldest and had all of the control when we were younger." He grinned widely.

"Yes, Edward, but who's the bigger one now?" Jasper moved quickly away from Alice and pulled Edward into a headlock, ruffling his hair under an open palm. Alice's high pitched giggle filled the room and Bella just looked on in amusement. Her heart soared to know that she had found a connection to this handsome stranger. She would have an excuse to see him again.

"Mercy! Mercy!" Edward shouted, laughter filling his voice. Jasper released him with one last playful shove, sending him a few feet backwards. Unfortunately-or fortunately, however someone wanted to view it-the headlock Jasper had pulled him into had only managed to make his eyes twinkle with happiness and his hair look even more sexy. Hey, the more the merrier right? Or did that phrase only apply to people?

"Thank you, for returning this." Bella clasped the wallet between her fingers then tucked it into the back pocket of her skinny jeans. "Would you, um, like to stay for breakfast?" He didn't need to know that she had already eaten. And it couldn't hurt to demonstrate her French toast making skills for him, right?

"I actually have to run. That's why I had to drop the wallet off so early. Work, and lots of it." Bella tried her best not to look crestfallen. For once, her acting worked. "It was… really nice meeting you Bella." His eyes flicked around her face, as if he was trying to memorize it. Alice bounced in place as she saw this, garnering hope that this could finally be a guy for Bella. "And Jazz, we should get together soon. Catch up." He said as he walked into the hallway leading to the front door.

"You said that last time we saw each other." Jasper said wryly.

"But I just happen to mean it this time!" Edward called over his shoulder before the front door slammed behind him.

As soon as Bella took a look at Alice she could see the wheels turning in her head. "You're scheming." She said accusatorily.

"So what if I am? That one's" She pointed at Jasper. "teammate is most _certainly_ no go, and you need a guy. You're 21 and you haven't even had sex yet!"

Bella flushed and covered her face with her hands. "Really, Alice, _really_? In front of _Jasper_?"

"Oh, it's not like he didn't already know." She said with a flick of her hands, as if it should have been obvious.

"Alice!" Bella shouted incredulously. Neither of the women noticed Jasper inching quietly towards the stairs.

"You know I have no filter, Bella! And he's the only one I've told, I promise." Her big brown eyes became pleading. "And Edward is great, isn't he? And we'd be real family, wouldn't that be amazing?"

"Alice, I barely even know the man! And it's not like you and Jasper are even engaged!" Bella knew she really shouldn't have been surprised at this point, but she just couldn't help herself. Jasper was now halfway to the staircase.

"But you could get to know him, couldn't you?" Her voice was soft now. Bella knew that Alice just wanted her to be happy and, personally, Bella wouldn't have minded getting to know Edward in any way, shape, or form, but she was currently busy trying to prove a point. "Jasper, you better just be going upstairs and not leaving this house!" Alice shouted without looking away from Bella.

"Just going upstairs, dear." Jasper said with wry amusement.

"You like him, I can tell." Alice positioned her tiny fists on her hips, determined.

Bella opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. No excuse or logical argument would come to her mind. Finally, closing her mouth, she groaned. "Just invite him over for dinner or something." Alice shrieked in excitement and hugged Bella around the waist, standing only a few inches shorter than her.

"This is going to be great!" She was gone with another joyful yell and the pitter patter of tiny feet up the stairs. Bella sighed with defeated exasperation.

"What is the elf up to now?" Rosalie asked, yawning, as she padded into the room and sleepily opened the fridge. Rosalie was always a good person to see after experiencing Alice's over the top personality. Her subdued manner always worked to calm Bella.

"Late night?" Bella asked, noticing the makeup still on Rose's face and the stray bobby pins littering her curled hair.

"Yeah. But I didn't want to stay at his place."

"How have you not gotten an STD yet?" Bella asked seriously, not judging at all.

"Apparently my parents' genes came with a _fantastic_ combination of luck and smarts. I have never forgotten a condom." She said with a mouthful of cereal.

Bella just shook her head. "Do you want to study for our philosophy test on Tuesday?"

"No I was thinking I would just write "Why not?" on my test and call it a day." Rosalie muttered sarcastically.

"I'll be ready at two." Bella said tiredly as the doorbell rang. She perked up, hoping that Edward would magically show up because he forgot something or, you know, wanted to see her. She smoothed her hair and casually (or what she thought was casually) walked to the door.

What she saw when she opened the door was not in the category of what she had wanted. Instead of receiving sexy, mussed copper hair and golden eyes, she got rumpled, dark brown hair with flat eyes of the same shade. She couldn't help the frown that formed on her face. Not that the asshat in front of her noticed. "Hello, Jacob. How can I help you on this fine, sunny Sunday?"

The hostility in her voice went right over his head and shot down to Oregon, where it could probably be appreciated by finer people than him. "Well, I think Jasper's girl gave me the wrong number because you haven't returned any of my calls. So, I thought I would drop by and ask about our next date." His smile was supposed to be winning, but for all Bella cared he was down by ten with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

She would really just have to be straight and to the point. Too bad that wasn't her specialty. "Jacob, I'm pretty busy with school and… things. I don't think that another date is going to be possible for awhile."

"That's cool. I have a few scrimmage games and practices too, since the preseason is kicking off soon. Why don't I call you when I'm free?"

"Well, I mean, I'm going to be pretty busy. This year is my final before I have to start applying for Grad schools, so I really have to buckle down. That's why I'm taking summer courses." Her impatience was beginning to show in her voice.

"Aw, c'mon, you've gotta have time for one more date." He said in the douchiest way it could possibly come out.

"_No_, Jacob, I really don't. So if you could please _leave_." Bella snapped, glaring up at the man whose form engulfed the front doorway. It took a lot to push Bella to the edge and Jacob had gone and tossed her right off of it. His eyes hardened at her tone as he realized what she was saying.

"Are you saying… _no_?" His voice was hard. And, honestly, it scared her.

She swallowed thickly, heart suddenly pounding. "Yes. Yes, I am saying no. I don't want to go on another date with you, Jacob." At that, he took a sharp inhale of breath.

"Well, Bella, I don't take too kindly to rejection. A lot of men don't. You'd best remember that when you choose another man to stomp on."

Bella was appalled as much as she was fearful when he turned from her and walked down the pathway to his car.

* * *

**A/N:**** Well, Bella has finally met her dreamy bartender, but it seems like she _may_ have some trouble from our dearest Jacob in the future! If you enjoyed and want to send a review my way that would be really cool! I was really happy with the response form my first chapter, I honestly didn't expect more than two or three reviews, so thank you to everyone who reviewed last time! See you next Thursday!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Mom, let me get that." Bella nudged Renee away from the sink, grabbing the dirty dishes from her hands. Renee tried to protest, but Charlie cut her off.

"Just let the girl do the dishes Renee. I'm sure that all she has to do at her house is throw away takeout boxes." He said and smirked at Bella's back.

"Well that's not stereotypical at all, dad." Bella said wryly from her position at the kitchen sink. They had just finished up their dinner, that had included fish of course, and Bella needed something to keep her hands busy. "Besides, you two are probably throwing out more takeout containers than I ever will." The sheepish silence and a peek to their trashcan under the sink confirmed Bella's suspicions. "I have no idea where I got my cooking gene from, since neither of you can manage anything more than fried fish without burning the house down."

Renee laughed while Charlie grumbled his discontent. Renee wrapped her arms around Bella's shoulders. "Thanks for doing the dishes, baby." Her chin rested on Bella's shoulder and they swayed to the music that Renee had decided to put on. It was a new style that she had just discovered and was supposed to "help you discover you true self." Bella would never admit it, but she sometimes missed her mother's antics.

"And?" Bella asked innocently.

"And cooking us dinner. It was delicious."

"And?" Bella said, a smile enveloping her face.

"And for still coming over every Wednesday to see us old folks!" Renee said with a laugh.

"Nobody's allowed to call me old until I'm a Grandpa. Which best not be for a while." Charlie said with a crisp opening of the daily paper. There was a comfortable silence broken only by the cleaning of dishes, the tappity tap of Renee's slow texting and the turning pages of a newspaper. "Seahawks are looking good so far. Season starts soon." Charlie commented nonchalantly. "Glad we kept Jacob Black last year."

"Dad, you know that I don't know anything about football." Bella snapped, completely out of character, as she slammed a dish into the water, splashing herself and the counter around her.

"Something wrong, Bells?" Charlie asked with a raised eyebrow.

She could tell by his tone that he was going into protective father mode. "No, nothing's wrong. I just… don't like football is all." Bella shrugged it off, rewashing the last dish. Charlie had a lie detector more accurate than a test, and she already knew she was caught. She just didn't want to see the look in her father's eyes that made her feel as if she as being interrogated.

"Bella, we both know that I know that you're lying." His voice took on a hard edge.

"Charlie, don't treat her like a suspect." Renee scolded.

"Well I'm sorry if I want to know what's going on in my daughter's life!" His fist slammed down on the table. He rubbed his palms across his face and sighed. "Bells, I'm sorry. Could you just tell me what's going on, please?" Bella was surprised, since her father usually avoided anything that could turn towards the area of being considered touchy-feely. But Renee had said she'd been trying to get him to "talk out his feelings" or something along those lines.

"I, um, had a date." Bella admitted, turning around to face the dining room table. Renee's face lit up while Charlie's face took on a reddish tint.

"With Jacob Black, I'm guessing?" Well, the man wasn't the Seattle Chief of Police for nothing.

Bella nodded slowly, then threw her hands up in the air. "He's a complete _douche_, dad!" She shouted, acting like the teenager she never really was. "He's self-absorbed, and arrogant, and I would bet money that he couldn't locate Seattle on a state map. Or _Washington_ for that matter." She finished with a huff and settled gracelessly into a chair.

Renee and Charlie just looked at each other, trying to contain their laughter. "Well, did he, um," Charlie had to cough, trying to be serious. It was his 21 year old daughter's first boy annoyance, after all. "did he _try_ anything?"

She thought about the kiss. The kiss that she _really_ hadn't wanted. She could tell Charlie about that, but he would probably blow it out of proportion and have Jacob shot or something. "No, not really." She crossed her arms. Then remembered Sunday night. He had threatened her, hadn't he? No… no he had just been angry. He probably wasn't used to being rejected, and that was his way of trying to hurt her back.

"Well, good. Otherwise I would've had him shot or something." Bella laughed at her thoughts coming out of his mouth.

"Well, I have to head out. Lots of partying to do." She hugged her mom and gave her dad a swift kiss on the cheek, laughing as he wiped it off playfully. "See you next Wednesday! And we're _not _having fish!" She shouted, shut the door and pulled on her coat, as happy as she could ever be.

* * *

Bella usually hated Thursday. It teased you, tauntingly coming before Friday. The day also held her two least favorite classes, Poetry and Philosophy, whose professors would usually decide to magically assign some lengthy essay that would be due the next time Bella saw them. Thursday was usually the day that they had the worst food in the cafeteria nearest her classes, and she usually never had the time to run home for lunch or the patience to prepare it in the morning. Plus, Thursdays were just damn boring. Nothing usually happened on Thursdays.

_Usually_.

Fortunately for Bella, this particular Thursday had been morphed and manipulated by the fates. Her Philosophy professor had caught something that was bad enough to make him stay home, letting her go home for lunch and then the rest of the day. The Poetry professor hadn't finished looking over their last analysis essay yet, not allowing him to assign anything else as he hadn't successfully acquired a T.A. for the semester.

And Alice had invited Edward over for dinner.

Alice was running around the house like a maniac, making sure all of the food she had bought looked homemade, that the house didn't have any stray underwear, clean or not, lying around, and that the décor and dining set was perfectly straight. And it was only four.

"Alice, we're in college, not sixty. Nobody wants to eat dinner this early." Bella joked, though on the inside she was shaking like a leaf on a tree. And, apparently, it showed.

"Bella, quit acting nervous. You're making me nervous. I don't want to look crazy in front of someone from Jazz's family." Bella wanted to point out that she always looked crazy, but kept her mouth shut as she didn't want a cherry pie thrown at her head.

"It's not like his opinion matters to me, Alice. He's my older cousin, not my parents." Jasper threw Alice over his shoulder, heading towards the stairs. "You, my dear, need to relax."

"Jasper, put me down!" Alice cried, banging her tiny, ineffective fists against his back. His deep chuckle shook her form as she squirmed around, her escape plan a no go.

"Thanks." Bella mouthed to Jasper from a place where Alice couldn't see her. Jasper grinned in response.

"Bella, you are _so_ not going to get out of me doing your hair later!" Alice called, barely audible to Bella now. Bella's only response was to laugh.

Jasper shut the door behind them, throwing Alice down on the bed. She sat up and curled into a ball, crossing her arms over her knees. Jasper flopped down beside her, feeling pretty pleased with himself. "I'm mad at you." Alice said as Jasper pried her hands from her knees.

"You won't be mad at me for long." He said knowingly.

"Really? Because you know how long I can hold a grudge, Jasper Cullen, and-" She was stopped as the doorbell rang. "He's early!" She wailed as she tried to scramble off of the bed, only for Jasper to drag her back again.

"No, I may have told him to get here this early."

"Why?! Why would you do that?!"

"For a Biochemistry major, you're not very bright, are you?" Jasper just buried his nose in her hair, breathing in her chocolate and cherry blossom scent. People always asked him how he was able to deal with Alice, even her best friend, but if Alice's craziness was the only thing he'd ever have to "deal" with in life, then he would be a happy man.

Alice was about to smack him on the arm, when she finally realized something. "You invited him early so they could have some alone time, didn't you?"

"Well, Rose and Angela aren't here, and you needed to relax, so I figured it was a good idea."

"I love you!" Alice yelled before she kissed him. "But I'm still mad." She poked him in the chest and gave him the sternest look she could muster.

"Well I guess I'll just have to make it up to you then." He crooned and flipped them over.

Meanwhile, Bella was considering running up to Alice for help as the doorbell rang again. But she _really_ didn't want to walk in on that, so she thought better of it. Maybe she should've let Alice do her hair earlier. She smoothed her skirt and blouse nervously, walking towards the front door. Her short chunky heels seemed to click louder than before, but maybe it as just her nerves.

She opened the front door.

Her heart sparked with electricity and a grin came over her face. "Hey Edward. Come on in."

He smiled widely and trained his eyes on her, having more of an effect on her than she would've liked to admit. "Thanks. I brought champagne up from the bar. A 1972." As he walked past her, she couldn't help but grab a glance at his ass. And it just happened to be as fine as the rest of him.

"Alice and Jasper should be down soon." Bella said as she grabbed the bottle from him. Their fingers brushed and she made an effort not to shiver from the heat that pooled in her belly.

"Just make sure to store that upside down." He said, voice a little more throaty than usual, not that Bella noticed. All she could do was nod awkwardly and stumble into the kitchen. She set the bottle on the counter, well away from the edge, opened the fridge, and took a well needed breath of cool air. At least he couldn't see her from where he was.

She turned around to grab the bottle, tripping over her own feet as she went. She watched in horror as her hand knocked into the precious bottle of champagne, causing it to tip off the edge of the counter and crash to the floor. The tinkling sound of broken glass filled the air.

"Shit!" Bella whispered harshly to herself as she bent to her knees to begin gathering up the broken pieces of glass. His first real time over and Bella had already managed to break something valuable of his. She wasn't even in his house! Why was she cursed with this godforsaken klutziness?

"Bella? Everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's great!" She didn't hear the footsteps tromping in to the kitchen over the pain of her now cut open and bleeding palm. She let a few more choice words fall from her lips as she cradled her hand in the other, already feeling woozy from the sight of the crimson liquid.

"Let me see." His hand came out of nowhere, reaching for hers. She let him grasp it with only minor protest.

"Edward, I'm so sorry. The champagne is utterly ruined." She groaned, more talking to herself now. "Why do I always have to do this? Me and my clumsiness always ruins something or other. If you don't want to lose anymore of your belongings or limbs, you might want to run away screaming now before-"

"Bella, it's fine." Edward said, cutting her off, still examining her palm and reaching for a dishtowel to wipe off the excess blood. The sight and rusty scent of it had definitely gone to her head as she leaned heavily on the counter next to her. "There's plenty more alcohol where that came from." She could feel his breath on her hand as he brought it close to his lips. "This might need stitches."

"Don't worry, I've had worse. Life of a clumsy person, I guess." He chuckled at her bad joke, making her feel better about the situation and herself in general.

Their bodies had been almost pressed together by the small space of the kitchen, and Bella's heart skipped a beat as she realized it. Edward seemed to realize it too as he stopped rubbing the blood away from her hand. The kitchen was silent except for the soft humming of the fridge. His head rose up slowly, his eyes tracing an electrical path from her arm, to her breasts, to her mouth, and finally to her eyes. He focused on them for a few moments and could see her eyes widen with anticipation.

Gold fused with chocolate brown and, suddenly, his lips were on hers.

The press of Edward's mouth against her own was perhaps the last thing she had expected and for a long moment, Bella didn't know how to react. Her first instinct, surprisingly enough, was to push Edward away, put as much distance between them as possible so he wouldn't have time to feel and sense how strong her feelings for him were already becoming. She'd experienced this before; the quick attraction, moving too fast and finally falling only to have the person she wanted not want her back.

Her second instinct, however, was to drag herself closer, to drink him in. The moment of indecision lasted too long; she could feel the change in Edward as he prepared to move away from her. That was what made the decision for her.

Though she knew it would have been more sensible to move away from him, barely knowing him and all, she wanted this. She felt an unexplainable and inexplicable pull towards him, something neither her head nor her heart could explain.

Moving her arms to wrap loosely around his neck, she tilted her face up to meet his and felt velvet softness, warmth and anxious heat as she absorbed the feeling of his lips on hers. Edward brushed his lips against her lips gently, once, twice, before becoming a little more firm. Pausing to gauge her reaction and finding no objection, he deepened their kiss, coaxing her into opening up for him. Languidly their tongues dueled with one another, learning every corner, every taste, every movement, Bella's hands rising to tangle in his coppery hair as he pulled her closer to him.

Warring with his desires, Edward forced himself to take things slowly, aware that they could be considered as little more than strangers in their relationship. But he couldn't explain it, he felt something towards this woman, the one who presented herself as a complete enigma to him. Bella shifted, pressing more of herself against him, sighing into his mouth as his hand explored the contours of her back and wound their way into the length of her hair. He caught fire, restraining the urge to push her down to the kitchen floor and cover her body with his own. He kissed her instead as though he could draw life from her mouth, as though it was the single most important thing he had ever done.

It felt like a moment, it felt like forever, before Bella pulled back to look at him. Edward drank in the image of her face, eyes widened in amusing surprise, cheeks flushed, features painted with streaks of sensuality that made her somehow lovelier. Foreheads touching, they leaned in to one another, breathing each other in.

Their eyes opened fully and met each other in startling honesty, their gazes colliding chocolate brown and a deep, lustful gold. Their world seemed to still around them as they looked at each other in surprise and amazement at the sudden connection. Then he smiled and she felt her own lips curl in response.

"I've wanted to do since I saw you in the bar." He confessed, stroking her hair.

She chuckled, a throaty sound that made her sound more confident about this than she felt."We've only officially known each other for all of five days, so you didn't have to wait that long." She teased-slightly surprised with herself for not sheepishly staring at the floor-though she knew what he meant. She had wanted to that and more as soon as she saw him too.

They stood there for a few more moments, Bella nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent and thoroughly intoxicating herself. She was grateful for that towel still clutched tightly in her injured hand, since she really didn't want their first kiss to involve getting blood in his hair or on his clothes. She pulled away slightly to peer into his eyes. "I'm still sorry about the champagne." She whispered, heat flaring in her belly as she spotted the look in his eyes.

He laughed fully now. "I would let you waste the rest of my champagne and then some if it meant getting to kiss you again." He said, his smile playful but his eyes serious.

"Luckily for you, that probably won't be necessary." She said before gifting him and innocent peck on the mouth. She squeaked in surprise as he lifted her as if she was a feather and set her firmly on the counter. He pressed light kisses against her jaw line and kneaded at her lower back, making her feel like she would defy gravity and float away. Bella felt herself release a moan, but was too caught up in Edward's attentions to blush with embarrassment.

"I knew it!" A loud, chime-like voice shouted from the kitchen doorway.

* * *

**A/N: Look, I did the update thing tyat I promised you guys! Sorry about the sort of shorter chapter, but I hope the little bit of action made up for it. Oh I'm just having so much fun! And I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed. I have almost 100 followers after just two chapters, wow! And I wanted to let you know that I always reply to reviews- unless you're on guest or restricted of course. Please drop me a review, it would be much appreciated. Until next time! **


	4. Chapter 4

"Alice, I wouldn't even wear that hideous scrap of a dress in the house, let alone on a date." _And definitely not a date with __**him**_. Bella thought to herself, jumping up and down internally. After they had been caught in the kitchen, Edward had been a perfect gentleman the _whole damn night_. He hadn't even teasingly arched his eyebrow at her until the dessert course, and then he had exited without even a small peck goodbye. Bella had been worried about it for a whole day before he sheepishly called her Friday night saying that he'd had to practically beg Jasper for her number.

"_You begged for it, huh? And what should that earn you?"_ Bella was much more confident over the phone than in person, to say the least. Her cheeks had flushed a bright red color as she flirted, but she had enjoyed the teasing. He'd made her worry for a whole _day_, after all.

"_Well, I was hoping it would _earn me_ a date. A real one, without any… growth stunted people to interfere._" Bella had choked back her laughter at Edward's jab, but her belly was seared with heat as she recalled just what Alice had interrupted.

She had hummed quietly in agreement, silently contemplating her schedule. She was completely free for the weekend. "_Well, I'll just have to see if I can fit you in, you know, with all my other hot dates grabbing my attention._" She could've sworn that she heard a low growl from him and held back an uncharacteristic giggle as he spoke again.

"_Well, I've got a special spot and another bottle of champange that says you're free this Sunday at 7:00. Would they happen to be right?_" She had drummed her fingers and bit her lip in nervous contemplation.

"_Yes, they would_." She answered back quickly, not even bothering to play coy anymore. Her answer had elicited a soft chuckle, making the butterflies in her stomach burst from their cocoons.

"Bella, Alessandra Rich would be _insulted_!" Alice's shrill complaint broke her from her daydreaming. "This one of her newest pieces off of her fall collection! I mean, honestly-"

"Bella," Bella pointed to herself. "no wear dress. We done talking now." She spoke slowly, as if Alice were a small preschooler. She loved her, but the midget grated on her nerves fifty percent of the time with all of her fashion this, fashion that! Jesus, if she hadn't grown up around her and known what Alice had been through, Bella didn't think that they would be friends. Keeping up with all of her chatter about aesthetic intention and design along with color perception of a piece was a workout on its own level. Alice should be majoring in design instead of biochemistry like her parents wanted her to do. Her heart thumped at the hurt expression that Alice was trying to conceal. "If you really want to help me, find some jeans and a nice long sleeved tee that I could wear."

Alice met her gaze hesitantly. "Can the jeans be stonewashed?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes, Alice, the jeans can be stonewashed." Bella agreed, sighing heavily. She knew that the jeans would be criminally expensive, but it was one of Alice's great joys in life to spend her parents wealth on a wardrobe for Bella. She knew it was Alice's way of making up for her annoyances, even if it just encouraged the annoying tendencies to continue.

Rosalie came to rest against the doorframe, crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow as she did, catching Bella's eyes in the mirror. "I don't know how you put up with her crap all of the time. I Would've thrown her in a barrel and shipped her to timbuktu by now." She waltzed over to the drawers and nudged Bella gently out of the way, grabbing a curling iron and straightener as she did.

"We've been friends since we were little. We've been through a lot together and I honestly would've been lost without Alice in highschool. She… she was there for me." Bella murmured the last part softly, remembering the all of the shit the Lauren and Jessica had done to her, and then Alice when she had stood up for her against the evil twins. She had sunk into a deep depression and hadn't bothered interacting with the world around her until Alice had coaxed her back.

Rosalie considered Bella's wistful but sad expression in the mirror and wondered what the girl had been through. Since getting to know her, Bella had revealed little to nothing about her life before her college years to Rosalie. She'd never hinted at it and clammed up whenever anyone brought up funny stories about the ridiculousness of their lives as teenagers. "Up or down?" Rosalie asked, shaking Bella from her dark thoughts.

"W-what?" Bella asked confused, and Rose stifled a giggle.

"Your hair, Bella. Up or down?"

"Oh, um, down."

"Curly or straight?" She asked, running her fingers through Bella's hair. Bella hummed at the motion; she loved it when people played with her hair.

"Can you do those soft waves that your hair has? It always looks so pretty." Bella said, eyeing Rosalie's long blonde locks surreptitiously.

"You only say that because you've never seen me doing the walk of shame to my house at four AM." Rosalie joked wryly as she wound the curling iron through Bella's chocolate hair.

"Please, for you it was never the walk of "shame", it was the walk of "I just got laid and had more fun than you did, bitch!" Bella threw her hands up in the air, succesfully catching the back of her left one on the curling iron situated in Rosalie's hand. "Well shit." Bella cursed as she shook her hand. Rosalie couldn't help her laughter as Bella stuck her hand under the cold water of the sink faucet. The skin was already raised and turning a bright pink when Alice skipped back in.

"Okay, I have a dark blend, stone washed pair of jeans, long-sleeved, grey knitted tee, and a black cardigan if you get cold." Alice chirped cheerfully, though a bit more subdued earlier now that Rose was in the bathroom. "The mascara and lipstick is in the top, right-hand drawer. If you want to use it. Have fun on your date, Bella. I want details!" She sing-songed as she loped out of the room, intent on leaving to go out on the date she had with Jasper.

The bathroom was silent as Rose finished Bella's hair and helped her swipe on the make up. They both made their way downstairs when Bella was done dressing. She chuckled when she saw that Alice had still mangaed to get her into a cardigan with modest lace backing. Bella figeted nervously as she took her normal seat at the kitchen table.

"If you don't stop cracking your knuckles I'll take the carburetor from your truck and chuck it into the sound." Rosalie threatened, making Bella jog her foot on the floor instead. A million thoughts were running through her head, and they could only come up with worst case scenario situations on how her date with Edward was going to go. He was probably just doing this as a joke to make up for the champange incident. "Hey." Rose said, grabbing Bella's attention. "He likes you, okay? He wouldn't have put up with you breaking a champange bottle with a price tag of nine hundred dollars and bleeding all over his shirt if he didn't."

"It was that expensive?" Bella whispered in horror and her breathing hitched. Yes, this was definitely a revenge date.

Rose smacked her palm to her forehead. "Telling you that wasn't supposed to make you worse." She groaned. Bella just bit her lip and twisted her hair. Rosalie stood up and leaned over the table, putting her face close to Bella's. "Listen, Swan, it's time to put your game face on. You have less than two minutes to pull yourself together or I will slap you! Edward seems like a great guy, _way _better than the douchebags Alice has managed to set you up with, and you _deserve this._Hell, if you don't snatch him up, I might." Bella bristled at that. "See, even you know that he's a catch. So woman the _fuck_ up. Okay?"

A mask of determination settled over Bella's face. "Okay." She said, just as the door bell chimed. "Well, I guess that's my cue." She stood up, smoothing her shirt and hair as she walked to the door. Alice had hung a black leather, sling handbag over the doorknob just to make sure she didn't forget it. She slung the strap over her shoulder before slowly opening the door.

Edward's half smirk never failed to floor her, and she let out an audible breath as his eyes met hers. "Hi." She breathed and he chuckled, just as breathless, though Bella didn't notice. She was happy to see that he was dressed just as casually as her, though he still looked as though he'd stepped from the pages of GQ. His black sport coat and jeans lent an air of familiarity to him that had Bella feeling right at home.

"I parked just down the block, since there wasn't any up space up here." Bella moved to close the door behind her before she heard a soft whistle coming from inside. Rose was holding out some flat and looked at Bella's bare feet pointedly.

"Um, sorry, just a sec." She scrambled back to Rose and hurriedly pulled her flats on while Rose slipped a condom into her jeans pocket.

"Just in case. No pressure." Rose murmured as Bella protested. She just nodded her thanks and rushed out the door.

The walk was relitively silent as they made their way to Edward's car. "You look really nice, Bella." As soon as the words left his mouth he wanted to smack himself. _Really nice, Edward, really? Could you be any more plebian? _

Bella didn't care or notice his distress as she blushed deeply. "Thanks. You look realy nice too. I'm glad I didn't dress to casually."

"No, it's perfect, trust me. I hope you like seafood?" _Please let her like seafood, please let her like seafood_.

He was startled when Bella started laughing and didn't know whether or not to be insulted. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She let out between gasps of laughter.

"So you _don't_ like seafood?"

She sobered up at his crestfallen look. "No, no no, I love it! I grew up on fish and crab, are you kidding? My dad may be the Seattle Chief of Police, but he still makes _plenty _of time to fish." She clapped her hand over her mouth. She wasn't supposed to tell him that detail yet. The cop for a father thing always managed to scare guys off. One had even run to a different state after he told her about some shady dealings he was involved in, not that she ever told Charlie.

She dared to peek of at Edward and was surprised to see an amused expression painted across his face as he saw her horrified one. "What did, you think I was going to run away screaming?"

"Kind of?" She questioned reproachfully. He just shhok his head as they reached his car.

"It'll take a lot more than that to scare me away from you, Bella." He opened the door for her and she climbed into it, shell shocked. _Did he just say what I think he said? Does he really mean that? Holy fuck Batman! _Bella's mouth grew into a wide grin as she considered his words. Maybe she had finally found someone who would be able to deal with her crazy parents; not that they would be meeting anytime soon. _It's only our first date, calm yourself Bella._

"So where is this special seafood spot that you're taking me?"

Edward looked at her as if they were in cahoots. "Ivar's."

"On Pier 54?!" Bella asked excitedly, beginning to recognize the route that he took.

"Well I'm glad someone's so excited." His grin lit up the car and his eyes, making Bella's heart stutter in her chest.

"You just so happened to pick my favorite place to eat in the whole state of Washington!" She bounced once in her seat.

"What can I say, I have a knack for reading people." He joked. He did have a knack for readin people, but when it came to her he was practically clueless and it frustrated him to no end.

"Oh really?" Bella leaned back in her seat and perused his figure casually as he continued to drive. He smirked as he felt her exploring eyes on him, but didn't turn to look at her, even if he missed the opprotunity to see her cheeks flush a rosy red in the fading light. "If you're so good at "reading people", how about you guess my favorite color."

He pretended to contemplate his answer. "Purple."

If he had guessed that two weeks previously, he would have been right. Any self-respecting husky would have to say so. "Nope. It's gold." She blurted out without thinking and hoped that he didn't remember it was the color of his eyes. There wasn't any amused smirk or glint in his eyes to let her know that he had realized and she breathed an internal sigh of relief.

"Well at least it's still one of the Husky colors. I don't know if I could date you if you said crimson or grey."

"Please, as if I could _survive_ at the UW if those were one of my favorite colors. The frat boys go ballistic as the sight of crimson. I think some of them actually believe that their blood is purple so they don't have to face the horror of having any shade of red somewhere near their bodies."

"Hey! I just so happen to _be _one of those "frat boys."

Bella snorted a laugh. "Please tell me you weren't a Delta." They were considered the worst frat house on campus; being able to "party hardy" was a basic requirement and there were only a few alumni of that house that graduated with any kind of honors.

He winced. "No, I stayed far away from that house. Though my brother Emmett was a Delta. I was a Kappa."

"My dad was a Kappa!" _Maybe that will make him like you._ Bella thought, but then told herself to slow down, cursing her thoughts.

"Really? So was mine. When did yours graduate?" Edward knew that it would be a good in with Bella's father if hers and his were old friends. Not that he was thinking that far ahead or anything. _Lord, this is only our first date! _He thought to himself.

"He never told me. He said it would make him feel too old." She shrugged, now wishing that she'd forced it out of him.

"Well if you want to ask him about Carlilse Cullen, go ahead." They pulled into a parking spot that was about two blocks from Ivar's. They continued to chat about Edward and his business degree and about her desire to be a teacher.

"I want to teach younger kids. Like first and second grade. They're so smart and it's amazing, the things they can do. I just feel like they need alittle push and I can help them in the right direction." She got nervous at his silence. "I mean, I guess it's a little imaginative or something but-"

"It's not imaginitive at all. I think that you'd be the perfect teacher." He said sincerely, meeting her eyes. He leaned forward and stole a quick kiss. It was slow, unhurried, and let a soft warmth spread like languid lava throughout her body. He slipped his tongue out to trace her lips carefully, cradling his soft cheeks in his hands. Bella's lips felt molten with heat as he pulled away, tracing her jaw with his lips.

He hummed, letting his hands drop to her hips. "I'm going to order." Bella could still taste him on her lips. He was sweet like chocolate and smelled of freesias.

"I don't care. Anything but the clam strips." She murmured to him and loped over to a table that was closest to the water. She'd always felt at home by the water. It was always free and not worried about whatever was near it. It could be as calm as a Sunday morning or as powerful and fearless as a soaring eagle. It was what she had always wanted to be.

She smiled benevolently as Edward wandered over, carrying their food with him. Though when he set down the baskets her smile turned to a grimance. "You got the clam strips?"

He widened his eyes innocently. "Well I still got you Halibut, didn't I?" He grabbed a strip and smirked. "Why do you have against clams anyway?" He threw the strip up and caught it in his mouthm thouroughly distracting Bella for a few moments.

"There was an… incident." She crossed her arms across her chest before grabbing for her own basket.

"Ah ah ah." Edward teased a he dragged her basket away. "I want the story." He raised and eyebrow determedly.

When Bella pouted softly, Edward almost caved. "So you're going to deny me sustenance? A poor college girl who has been living on ramen for the past three years of her life? You, Mr. Cullen are a terrible, terrible person."

"Story first, then halibut." He said, but didn't object as Bella quickly stole a few fries from the basket.

She sighed heavily. "My dad brought home bad clams. I ate them, got food poisoning. I was throwing up and… yeah. For _two days_."

"Two _whole_ days? Oh, the agony." He teased her, clutching a hand to his stomach.

"Yeah, smartass, it _was_ agony for a little eight year old girl. Now pass me my halibut!" She commanded and he willingly obliged.

They ate in silence for a few minutes until Edward stopped her by holding something up in front of her basket. "What're you doing?" Bella asked suspiciously as she eyed the deep fried clam strip lying in his outstretched fingers.

""Trying to make you like clam strips. You can't let one bad experience stop you from enjoying the greasy magic of an Ivar's clam strip."

"Yes I can. Eat the clam strip yourself." She said laughingly, swatting his hand away.

"Just eat the clam strip."

"Put the clam strip down before I chuck the whole basket into the ocean." He pulled the basket away before she could reach for it.

"Well, as much as I wouldn't want to make the poor marine life have to see their dead, deep fried friends, I don't want you to have to experience another minute without knowing what they taste like.

Bella couldn't help the boisterous laughter that burst from her stomach. "I don't want the damn clam strip, Edward. What is _wrong_ with you?!"

"It's just a truly tragic sight to see someone who can't enjoy clams. I may be adding them to the bar menu soon, you know."

"Fine feed me the clam strip you weirdo." He voice wavered with her held in laughter. She let her mouth close over the clam strip in his hand, her lips brushing Edward's fingers and sending a shiver up his spine as she did. She didn't even taste it as she chewed slowly, making sure to lick her lips and meet his eyes as she did. She had no idea where this flirty, teasing Bella had appeared from, but she was starting to like it.

She was also starting to like clam strips, too.

"Well, fancy seeing you here Bella." her heart stopped as she heard a deep chuckle from behind her.

* * *

**A/N****:**** Oooooh, cliffhanger, but look, I'm back! I just wanted to apologize again to everyone for the wait, but I had to sort through family things after my aunt's death. I wanted to thank each and every one of you who has reviewed, favorited, and followed. I have almost 60 (!) reviews and over 200 follows and almost 100 favorites after just three chapters. I also learned that someone rec'd my story on The Lemonade Stand, which is such a great feeling! You guys bring happy tears to my eyes. If I have not yet responded to one of your reviews I promise that I will try my best. Until next time guys, and thanks again! You're all amazing! **

**~OA**


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